Behavior of Fission Products in the Course of Dissolution of Simulated Spent Nuclear Fuel in Iron Nitrate Solutions and of Recovery of Uranium and Plutonium from the Resulting Solutions

摘要

Experiments aimed to examine the spent nuclear fuel dissolution in iron(III) nitrate solutions and to elucidate the behavior of fission products in the process were performed with simulated fuel corresponding to spent nuclear fuel of a WWER-1000 reactor. In Fe(III) nitrate solutions, U is quantitatively transferred from the fuel together with Cs, Sr, Ba, Y, La, and Ce, whereas Mo, Tc, and Ru remain in the insoluble precipitate and do not pass into the solution, and Nd, Zr, and Pd pass into the solution to approximately 50percent. The recovery of U or jointly U + Pu from the solution after the dissolution of oxide nuclear fuel is performed by precipitation of their peroxides, which allows efficient separation of actinides from residues of fission products and iron.